May I start by wishing you all a very happy new year, and may I ask you have you made any new year’s resolutions? 
If so, how is it going? I think most people do make resolutions and most people fail to carry on with them for very long. Therefore, I thought for my first blog of 2025 I would delve into new year’s resolutions and see what’s hot and what’s not and why do most people fail to keep it going. 
 
Let us start by looking at what are some of the most common things people make a resolution about. By far the most common has something to do with personal improvement like, improving mental health, losing weight, doing more exercise, eat better, drink less alcohol and more water or getting more sleep. 
 
Then comes the more extended versions of personal wellbeing like spending more time with the family, volunteering, reading more or learning a new skill. 
 
These are all really worthy goals and often something that the person really wants to achieve, so why do they fail? Often the goals are unrealistic, not specific enough and without a plan, which is often missing, we lack accountability. If we are working on this by ourselves, we can lose motivation, not have enough support, become overwhelmed and feel it is hopeless especially if going it alone. 
Here are my tips for achieving those goals you thought of, and this is where planning comes in and ideally before the 1st of January: 
 
One bite at a time! If you had to eat an elephant you would do it, one bite at a time so why try and achieve all your goals in one go. So, divide up your goals into bitesize chunks. 
Specific is terrific! It is very easy to be broad in what you want to achieve and that will ensure you fail. Take time to turn bitesize chunks into detailed goals that do not allow for misinterpretation. 
Written in tablets of stone! Ok so you don’t have to go that far but writing it down helps you to focus on each goal in turn and ensures you stick to the plan. Also, writing down your goals has a much higher likelihood of success than not writing it down will. 
We don’t plan to fail; we fail to plan. Consider what could go wrong, how might you slip up and what are you going to do then. 
There’s a good boy/girl! Consider a small reward for each time you reach a goal, it’s well known that these little rewards mean a lot, especially if you praise yourself and revel in how well you have done. 
Ok is Ok! All to often we have an imagine of perfection in whatever we are going to do. Social media gives us lots of false images of perfection and when we don’t make it we get down and our mood drops. Remember you are only human, you will make mistakes, look at why you slipped up and make chances to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. Striving for perfection is not possible, no one can be perfect. You can have perfect moments when something you are doing is just perfect, like holding your newborn baby, or a moment in nature. For the rest of the time good enough is good enough. Just think how you would console a friend if they slipped up and then tell yourself it. Then move on! 
Find a friend! You can achieve resolutions on your own, however, it is so much easier with someone to help, support and if needed motivate you sometimes. 
Did you know 88% of people who set new year’s resolutions fail within the first two weeks. If you can keep doing something regularly for 30 days, it becomes a habit. So, keeping to your resolutions is about creating good habits. It was estimated that over a third of Brits made a resolution, now it is down to 19%, and this is probably due to the difficulty in keeping to it. 
 
Young people aged 18 – 34 are most likely to set a resolution. Then as we age, we are less inclined. And for some reason people in Liverpool are most enthusiastic about setting a resolution. Then come Londoners, then residents from Newcastle, and Edinburgh. While an amazing 57% of people have never set a New Year’s Resolution in their lives or don’t plan to. 
I would like to offer a challenge in two parts as a new year’s resolution, yes, I know we have passed New Year’s Day but it’s never too late. So, whether or not you have ever set a new year’s resolution of not, first why not give it a go this year and follow my helpful tips. Then let me know how you get on. 
 
The second part of this challenge is to consider something that is not about you, why not consider doing something for nature. It could be volunteering to get physical and join a project to help wildlife. Or start looking into what you can do in your garden to help wildlife. 
Consider how you live your life and what sort of negative impact you have on nature and then improve things. If you know nothing about wildlife in your area, then start finding out and get out and see if you can spot any. 
 
Any or all of these are great resolutions, and the bonus is you will help your own health by doing it. Good luck and let me know how you get on. 
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